ink

Once upon a time, in a country far far away from where it was made, a blue Pelikan M205 Traditional Series demonstrator came to roost on a Yeah! notebook.

The blue Peli’s fine steel nib has a bit of flex that makes it a joy to write with, yielding good line variation because of its springiness.

It was joined later by a limited edition Pelikan M205 in Gelb (yellow) from Germany.

Its nib is even bouncier than its blue fellow’s.

The clips of both pens are pelican beaks with eyes, the better to see what they are writing.

The ink window mesmerizes; one can gaze at that ink bubble and derive amusement from watching the ink flow here and there as you tilt the barrel.

An ink window is handy for seeing how much ink you have left. You’ll never run dry in the middle of a sentence anymore.

The Yeah! notebook is inexpensive but well-made.

Its paper is smooth and takes fountain pen ink well with little show-through and no feathering.

Interesting pens, notebooks, and inks for doodling make me happy. What are the little things that bring you happiness?

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Pen friends show each other love with – pens. Leigh and TAO cheered me up with these pink beauties, both unavailable in Manila.

Rotring is a brand familiar to many Filipinos. Countless engineering students buy their drafting pens and related products. This German brand also makes reliable school and workhorse fountain pens commonly used in Europe.

The Rotring Altro (from TAO) was released in the 1980s and came in pink, yellow, burgundy, and other colors. Its ribbed barrel is non-slip and sturdy hard plastic, able to withstand flinging into a rucksack after a day at school. This one has a  medium nib, but writes like a Parker fine, and glides smoothly over paper. The nib is steel, and rigid as a concrete nail.

It can take a small cartridge and have room for a spare. A long Waterman cartridge would fit, for those who want more ink than a short cart can store.

The cap bears “Rotring Altro” and “W. Germany” markings. The clip is metal wire, like a bent paper clip with a tube of plastic on the tip. The pen looks coral in these images because of the low light conditions, but the actual color is Barbie pink.

Herlitz is another German brand. Founded in 1904 and based in Berlin, it manufactures paper and school and office supplies, among them a line of fountain pens. The my*pen line comes in cheerful two-color combinations – fuschia and orange, light and dark blue, light and dark green, and this pink and white baby.

Another friend, Clem, calls her white Lamy Safari her “Stormtrooper” pen. This one (from Leigh), on the other hand, reminds me of Hello Kitty Darth Vader. Like most, if not all, affordable modern pens, the nib is steel without a hint of flex. The pink inset is soft rubber and makes gripping it easy. This one has an M-nib, but lays a  juicier and wetter line than the Rotring Altro, much like the M-nibs of other brands.

The rest of the barrel is ridged hard plastic. The cap has an unusual design that reminds of, well, Hello Kitty Darth Vader’s helmet.

The Rotring Altro and Herlitz my*pen are dependable road warriors that will complement any pen fancier’s lineup for daily use.

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On alternate weekends  I sit as anchor of the cable television live coverage of horseracing events at the Philippine Racing Club’s Santa Ana Park in Naic, Cavite.

There are usually 12 races on Saturday, 13 on Sunday. They start at 2:00 pm and are held at 30 to 40-minute intervals. I’m on-cam at the opening and closing of the show. In between, only my voice (and that of my co-host) is heard to introduce the entries at the post parade, give the pre-race and post-race analyses, read announcements, race odds, results, and pay-offs, and crack jokes. There are no scripts, it’s all ad-lib, and it’s pretty free-wheeling as long as you stick to the sequence.

I’m stuck in the studio the entire day, unless there are awarding ceremonies to emcee, which isn’t often. To amuse myself between races and spiels,  I doodle and test fountain pens and ink.

I play!

Last weekend I brought along these babies to the track and put them through their paces.

From the top, a Lamy Purple AL-Star EF; a Lamy Coffee AL-Star EF; a Parker Ringtop; a Sailor Pro Colors 500 in Geranium Red, originally a medium and modified by nibmeister Chito Limson into a stub;  and a Wahl 3 Greek Key.

Along with pens, ink gets tested too. Pilot Iroshizuku has a wonderful line of ink based on colors found in nature, in the earth and plants and trees of the Japanese countryside.

The Sailor running Pilot Iroshizuku tsutsuji (azalea).

Once a fountain pen is altered from its original state, the practice among pen collectors is to mention all changes made to it. In the case of nib modifications, a word is coined that refers to it using the nibmeister’s name. In the case of this Sailor, it is “Chitofied”.

To give a few more examples: “Binderized” (Richard Binder), “Mottishawed” (John Mottishaw). To use in a sentence: “Sorry, kids – your only inheritance is a Pilot Vanishing Point with a Binderized cursive italic nib.”

Most fountain pen nibs in gold and steel are tipped with “iridium”, a term that refers to metal alloys that are long-wearing and protect the softer gold and steel tips. In less expensive pens, the tip of the nib may just be turned back on itself to create the characteristic bump on the tip.

A nibmeister creates a stub nib by patiently grinding away the “iridium”, often by using abrasive pads like Micromesh. He may leave a soft-edged tip, or grind a straight line with rounded edges – a “stub”. If he sharpens the edges a bit more, he comes up with an italic nib. Sharpening even further, he creates a “crisp” italic nib.

Stubs and italics offer more line variation than the usual kinds of nibs (extra-fine, fine, medium, broad). They are more interesting to write with.

To obtain more variation and fancier effects, nothing comes close to vintage flexible nibs. The best, to my mind, are gold flex nibs from the 1930s and earlier. Below is a gold-filled Wahl 3 Art Deco pen from the ’20s.

Wahl 3 inked with Waterman Havana Brown. To see a Wahl (and a Nakaya elastic fine and flexible fine)  in action, watch this video at Leigh Reyes’s blog.

Lamy is a fantastic brand that marries contemporary design with reliability and performance. Here’s their Lamy AL-Star, which looks the same as their popular Safari model, except that the AL-Star’s barrel and cap are made of aluminum while the Safaris are plastic.

Lamy comes out with different colors of their AL-Star and Safari every so often and discontinuing them after each production batch, making each new color a collectible. This one’s called “Coffee”, rendering it irresistible to me. It lays a striking line when paired with gentle-for-pens Waterman ink in Havana Brown.

Modern steel nibs are “nails’ – they are unyielding and sturdy, making them suitable for daily road-warrior work such as note-taking, writing drafts and long letters, and defending yourself against muggers. (That’s a long story. Tell you next time.)

See the difference between the Wahl 3 and the Lamy.

Lamys at the track: Purple AL-Star, Coffee AL-Star, Aluminum AL-Star, Pink Safari. Save for the Aluminum, these are LE (limited edition) colors.

I bring at least four Lamys with me everyday, inked with different colors. But I also bring a flex pen or two to play with, and another vintage favorite is this Parker Duofold Jade ringtop with gold-filled cap trim from 1929 or thereabouts.

Pilot Iroshizuku momiji (autumn leaves) gives gradated effects when used in a flex-nib pen.

The Parker Duofold’s nib is glorious; I can do calligraphic tricks with it, creating thick and thin lines and all kinds in between by altering the pressure on the nib.

Doodling in between races with pens old and new, using inks of rainbow hues, relaxes me after each task and clears my head, so I approach the commentating of each race with undiminished energy.

“Aaaaand they’re off…!”

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From last year’s Pilot Iroshizuku line of fountain pen inks – tsukushi (horsetail) and yama-budo (wild grape).

With a name like “horsetail”, I was bound to love  it. Tsukushi is a reddish brown in the bottle, but dries to a shade like milk chocolate that melted in your hand.

Yama-budo is a subdued purple, yet vibrant in the light, like a good red wine in a glass. It dries to violet-red. The notebook is by Te Neues; it feathers.

Pilot has got “quiet elegance” right, from the understated yet attractive colors to the handsome glass bottles that, on first glance, might be mistaken for perfume vessels. The silver cord around the neck and the elliptical shape of the bottle with the heavy glass base add to their subtle charm. It’s a pleasure to fill pens with these hued potions.

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This Pilot Custom 74 flies in from Leigh Reyes’s well-maintained collection with a three-tined music nib tweaked by famed nibmeister Richard Binder into an italic.

The nib is a beauty, with more than a hint of spring that makes it a joy to lay down wide lines.

Precision Japanese engineering and craftsmanship ensure that it writes from the get-go, without hesitation or skipping, even after being unused for weeks.

This is part of my journey towards out-of-the-ordinary nibs, as I venture farther out of my F (fine) and EF (extra-fine) comfort zone to explore the other options that make fountain pen use and collecting an enjoyable experience.

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This is officially the flexiest pen I have.

A Caswell black hard rubber with eyedropper fill, it comes from Prof. Butch Dalisay’s collection of vintage American pens.

Made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, circa 1910-1915, this would have been new and modern around the Art Nouveau period, one of my favorite movements in art. Though the pen itself is simply adorned with geometric feathering all along the cap and barrel, its flexible Sanford nib, in a practiced hand, can recreate all the whiplash curves, ornate flourishes, and  stylized lettering of that era.

Ink: Private Reserve Burgundy Mist + Diamine Cerise; Journal: teNeues.

A heart-shaped breather hole  decorates the nib; it’s a common design element in older pens that helps date them. As an eyedropper fill – the hollow barrel itself contains the ink – it holds an inordinate amount of writing potion, perhaps the best fill system to accomodate its lavish gushing.

The nib bends and sways at the lightest touch, delivering lines that vary from eyelash-thin to broad Pentel-wide with just the right combination of ease and pressure.

It’s amazing that this pen has survived for nearly a century. Simple in design and construction, yet well-made enough to withstand the rigors of use by many hands, the Caswell proves the functionality and practicality of many vintage pens.

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I carry different fountain pens for different purposes, always having at least one flexible and and one firm-nibbed pen with me when I go out.

These pens are a c. 1920s Moore vest pen, one of the flexiest I own, and a firm-nibbed Sailor 1911 Demonstrator that I finally had the courage to ink, something I had been putting off since I acquired it last January.

The Sailor contains dregs of Private Reserve Arabian Rose, while the Moore runs PR Copper Burst. I got a bottle of Cross ink and opened it to see how brilliantly blue it was, and tested some Paper One 80 gsm paper that I’ll have bound into notebooks.

The Tarot cards are Alex’s. It’s a Golden Dawn deck from Lo Scarabeo. She doesn’t read cards; she was just attracted to the lovely artwork.

I love the Nine of Pentacles card; the lady in the illustration could be me, with the voluptuous curves and love of pink. I wouldn’t mind looking like the glamazon on the Strength card, though.

Here’s a closeup of the Moore’s nib with its heart-shaped breather hole. This shot was taken with available light to show the texture of the paper and the gradations of the ink.

The Moore’s celluloid barrel has wonderful patterning. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, more’s the pity. It’s a lever fill. To ink, pull down the lever with a fingernail; this forces a pressure bar inside the barrel against the inc sac, forcing air out. Dip the nib in ink, and release the lever to allow ink to rush into the sac.

The Sailor is fitted with a converter. To fill, screw down the twister to the bottom. Dip the nib in ink, and screw the other way. The ink will creep up inside the converter. A long cartridge can hold more ink but isn’t as interesting to fill.

Its 14k nib is a work of art.

The Sailor has a firm fine (F) nib with no flex, and writes thinner than Western Fs. In a Western pen, this would be XF, or even XXF.

The wide variety of fountain pen nibs is one aspect that fascinates collectors and users.

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The Fountain Pen Network-Philippines had a penmeet last April 4. I wasn’t able to attend as it was a work weekend for me. The penmeet was held at Cravings restaurant in Shangri-La Mall, EDSA. I missed seeing my FPN-P friends, among them Butch Palma, who is Bali-based now and we seldom get to see him.

Leigh Reyes had a pen for me, as did Prof. Butch Dalisay and Raffy Abrina, so I sent  my daughter Alex to the penmeet in my stead to pick up the pens for me.

Here’s Alex’s impression of the meeting, in her own words and photos:

It was my first time to attend a penmeet on my own. Everyone was very nice. When I got inside Cravings, Prof. Butch saw me then I went in. And then someone said like “Hey, Alex is here!”

L: Caloy, Kurt, Butch Palma, Leigh. R: Prof. Butch Dalisay.

I just sat there and watched a bit, then roamed around, peeked over Tita Leigh’s shoulder when she opened her pencase, and watched people.

There were people around a table laden with pens, ink, and desserts, and water glasses with the water inside colored various shades. Like people rinsed pens in them. I was like, “I’m not drinking that.”

L-R:  Chito, Iñigo, Leigh, Butch P., Caloy, Kurt, JP.

Tito Chito treated me to a chocolate banana split, and they included me in the raffle, and I won a bottle of Private Reserve Fast Dry Ultra Black. Tito TOB gave me a dip pen set with scented ink for Ik.

Then there was a small blueberry cheesecake on the table, and Tito Iñigo offered it to Tita Leigh, and she said “Yay, cheesecake!”, which I thought was so cute. You wouldn’t expect a grown lady who’s sophisticated to say that. She’s cool like that. Oh, and her calligraphy was pretty and elegant and I wish I could draw abstract flowers like she did.

On the table in front of Iñigo is the cheesecake.

I don’t remember a lot because I have the attention span of a butterfly.

When I got home that evening, I was vastly entertained by Alex’s stories, besides being happy with the Pilot 74 from Leigh, the Caswell from Prof. Butch, the Lamy 26p from Raffy, and – a wonderful and unexpected surprise – a Sheaffer frankenpen from American penfriend Tom Overfield. (More on the pens in another post.)

So although I didn’t get to attend the penmeet myself, I saw it through my daughter’s eyes, and enjoyed it just the same.

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Once you start sliding down the “slippery slope” (as University of the Philippines professor Dr. Butch Dalisay calls it) of fountain pen collecting, you will need accessories. You don’t just collect the pens. Or the ink. Or the fountain-pen friendly journals and pads. You also need the proper storage paraphernalia to keep your collection in.

Once you have a certain number of pens, you will find that you will tend to prefer some of them for regular use. The rest of your pens need to be stored properly to preserve their condition. Be sure to keep your pens away from sunlight, humidity, extreme temperatures (the freezer is not an option) and pests (mice, inquisitive family members). Some storage suggestions:

1. Pen boxes – These may be of wood, fabric-covered cardboard, or other materials, and look like treasure chests. Some have grooves inside to accommodate the pens, others elastic bands to keep them in place. Boxes are perhaps the safest kinds of storage.

2. Pen cases – these are available in leather, faux leather, vinyl, nylon, and fabric, and zip up all around. They have the advantage of being portable in case you want to bring your collection to penmeets. Some models have elastic bands only; others have both bands and tube pockets that go halfway up the pen.

A leather Conway Stewart 40-pen case.

A velvet flap (left) keeps the pens separated from each other. Elastic bands hold the pens in place. The case is lined with velvet to protect the pens.

It is also important to find a good place in your home to keep your collection pen cases or boxes:

1. Shelf – pen cases and boxes must be placed out of reach of curious people who might play with your “pretty bolpens” when you’re not around.

2. Closet, drawers, etc. – a good option, as long as they are not too humid.

3. Home safe – perhaps the best place, especially if your collection runs to limited edition diamond-encrusted Mont Blancs, but the inconvenience in accessing your collection may prevent you from fully enjoying your pens.

In general, collectors are also users. Users may carry one or more of the following types of pens:

1. Road warriors – sturdy and reliable pens with firm nibs for general purpose use: note-taking,  sketching/drawing of diagrams and flow charts, and drafting of presidential candidacy speeches and pre-nuptial agreements.

2. Special purpose pens – pens with stub or italic nibs for addressing invitations and greeting cards in calligraphy; refillable highlighters or italic pens filled with highlighter ink.

3. “Play pens” – pens for doodling with during long boring meetings that require only half a brain for participation. These include pens with fancy nibs like music nibs for executing extravagant flourishes; “wet” writers with wide nibs that gush ink like geysers and allow you to appreciate the color gradations and texture of the ink; and flexible pens for practicing calligraphy and seeing how wide you can get the tines to spread before they deform.

These “daily pens” may be carried in your bag in smaller pen cases, of which there are many on the market:

1. “School” cases – these range from the plastic, cartoon character-adorned pencil cases of our childhood to modern nylon zip cases, all available at office and school supply stores.

2. “Corporate” pen cases – Fino Leatherware (Manila) makes beautiful leather pen cases, perfect for one or two pens. These are found in leather goods sections.

3. Fabric pen wraps – these have  tube pockets and ribbon ties to secure the scrolled wrap.

4. Specialty pen cases – these are designed with the collector and serious user in mind, and are available online or in pen shops abroad. One option that is sturdy and tends to reduce the rubbing of pens against each other is a smaller version of the large leather pen case.

It is important to remember when choosing a daily pen case to get one where there are loops or bands or other means to keep the pens separate from each other.

A typical 12-pen leather case, closed.

A leather flap on the right side keeps pens separate.

There are two elastic bands per pen.

Whichever storage and carrying method you use, choose the one that feels right for you and works with the way you do and arrange things.

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